Resurrection X #1: Streets of Rage

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By Hilary Goldstein

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Resurrection X. Every so often we'll take a look at a classic game we'd like to see brought back to life on the nine-pound 'box. We'll remind you what the game was like and then detail how cool it could be on Xbox. As far as we know, none of the games we pick are coming out to any system in the near future. But, who knows, there are plenty of secrets we're not privy to. Or perhaps, if we're lucky, some developer will read one of these articles and be inspired to remake an old classic. So, without further ado, rise from your grave...

Streets of Rage

Why's this on the operating table? One of my favorite games on the Sega Genesis, Streets of Rage 2 was a cool side-scroller in the vein of Double Dragon and Final Fight. But why choose it as our first resurrection? Aside from its popularity, the game was all-around solid. There were other Streets of Rage, including SoR 3, which had a kangaroo as a character. Yes, a kangaroo. SoR 2 was the true classic, so that's what I'll focus on. A decade ago, games were still pretty limited. With today's full treatment, the Streets of Rage franchise could pull of some amazing feats.

The coroner's reportStreets of Rage 2 took place one year after the events of the first SoR. Big bad Syndicate boss, Mr. X had taken Adam (a star of the original) hostage. Now it was up to Axel, Max, Blaze, and Skate to battle their way through a gauntlet of street thugs, ninjas, and utter freaks to save Adam's behind. Featuring eight stages, players chose from one of four difficulty levels:

Easy

Medium

Hard

Hardest.

You could choose from any of the four players and each had their own weaknesses and strengths based on five traits: Power, Technique, Speed, Jump, and Stamina. In case you've forgotten all about these characters, here's a quick rundown on each:

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Max This buffed out wrestler had the most power and stamina, but was also pretty slow. He was an excellent choice for the mindless neanderthal player, like IGN PS2 editor, Jeremy Dunham.

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Axel Back from the original, Axel is the favorite of the masses. Not only does he have a kick ass fire uppercut, but his abilities are well-suited for a run through the myriad of baddies who seek to accost you.

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Blaze Samus wasn't the only female heroine back in the day. Blaze was a tough, no-nonsense kind of gal with a powerful wheelhouse kick. She was the most well-rounded of the characters with average scores in each trait.

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Skate My personal favorite, Skate, didn't have much in the way of power or stamina, but he had crazy hops and he was on skates! Who wouldn't want to kick some arse in a pair of four-wheel rollers?

Streets of Rage 2 was simple enough to control. You only needed to worry about three buttons: A, B, and C. A used one of your special moves, B attacked, and C made you jump. You could do a few limited combos as well, along with jump attacks and low strikes. While it may seem simplistic, the game was incredibly addictive and never got repetitive, no matter how many times you did your fire uppercut.

You didn't just kick and punch your opponents, though. You could grab then and beat on them, throw them to the ground like scum, or even toss them into other enemies. This last one was the best way to take out a swarming group of hoodlums. But, anything you could do your enemy could do to you as well. So, if you weren't careful, a knife-wielding thug could grab you and put his own beating on you... or hold you in a full nelson so his buddy with the pipe could bust a few of your ribs.

Objects could be smashed along the way, revealing weapons, health, or point pick-ups. Health came in the form of little sums (apples) and full revitalization (turkey with stuffing). There were only a few types of weapons, but they always were good to spice things up. Here's what you could pick up: Knife, throwing dagger, pipe, katana. If you were hit or grabbed an enemy, you dropped your weapon. Likewise for the baddies. After a few drops, a weapon would disappear. Oh, and if you really didn't want that sweet ass pipe to crack skulls with, you could chuck it at an enemy for some nice damage.

These punks are up to no good.

There were a variety of street punks and circus freaks to contend with in each level. While each was recognizable by their mohawk, attire, or style of attack, they also had individual names. Mind you, they weren't particularly clever. But still, it was kind of cool to see that you were kicking the nuts out of Gale or slamming your skates into Fog's grill. Each name was attached to a damage meter so you knew how close you were to taking out an enemy. And boy was it fun to take these guys out. Whenever you did, they would cry out. There were a handful of different screams, each worthy of the effort. Your character would also let out a scream when they died. But, if you were a true master like me, that never ever happened. Well, almost never.

SoR 2 wasn't just for you to play alone. A buddy could choose a character and help you beat the streets with some single screen action. Fighting in tight spaces could be tough, because players could hurt each other. Yeah, you'd think it was cool grabbing the big fat dude in the baseball stadium and tossing him backwards, but your buddy wouldn't find it so amusing when tubbo smacked right into him.

That turkey's getting soggy.

Each stage ended with a boss battle. The bosses were unique, had their own set of power moves and tricks. Almost every boss required a different strategy to take down. Flying kicks were necessary for almost all of them, though. There were electro-whip cracking wenches, big fat dudes breathing fire, total freakoids with Wolverine-like claws who cannonballed like Street Fighter's Blanca, pugilist bullies, and even some weird alien thing.

Mini-bosses were sprinkled throughout the game. These were usually bosses you had previously defeated, though there were some uniques. Specifically, there were these kickboxing bastards. They had major jumps, a lot of power, and would actually block your attacks! What really made the game tough and unique for its time, was that the bosses came back. But not as bosses, they were simply thrown in with the other thugs to kick your butt. Let's say you beat the annoying fat guy at the baseball stadium. The very next level, tubby's brother comes at you while your busy taking on other typical grunts. And this happened again and again as the game progressed. By the end, you were fighting all of the previous bosses just to get a shot at the main man, Mr. X. It got real squirrely when you had to take on two former bosses simultaneously who each required a different tactic to beat.

The final push took you up an elevator to meet Mr. X. Here you faced some of the toughest battles in the game. Especially the final fight in the elevator, where you took on a very, very difficult mini-boss who ripped you two or three new ones before all was said and done.

Before you fought Mr. X, you had to take on the much tougher Shiva (his personal bodyguard). Shiva was fast and would own you if you weren't prepared. Oh, and like a dozen thugs came at you while Shiva was turning your face into a Picasso painting. Once Shiva was dealt with, you got Mr. X. His machine gun gave him an unfair advantage, but really, he was easier than most every other boss in the game. So, if anything, SoR 2 had that against it. As you can see, the game was pretty flarpin' cool. Just imagine what it could be now on the best console out there. The preview just might read like this...